The Model Wife


Tricia Stringer - 2019
    Some might say too full. With her teaching job, a farm to run, three grown daughters who have not quite got a handle on things, a reserved husband and a demanding mother-in-law, most days she is too busy to think about whether she is happy. But her life has meaning, doesn't it? After all, she is the one person everyone depends upon.But when an odd gift from her mother-in-law - an old book in the form of stern and outdated advice for young wives - surfaces again, it brings with it memories she thought she had buried deep. Has this insidious little book exerted some kind of hold over her? Could it be that in her attempts to be a loving wife and mother, she no longer knows who she is?On a day when it seems everyone is taking her for granted, and as the ghost of a past betrayal rises, it becomes clear that even this good mother and model wife can be pushed too far ...'A delightful, wise and heartwarming novel about second chances that celebrates friendships old and new.' Rachael Johns, author.

A Most Desirable Marriage


Hilary Boyd - 2014
    Even after thirty years they have lots to say to each other, many interests in common and, until recently, a good sex life.But Lawrence seems wary and restless. Something’s wrong. Just how wrong, Jo is about to discover…Can they use their years of history–all the things they’ve shared–to overcome a devastating betrayal?

Leaving Haven


Kathleen McCleary - 2013
    Through a miraculous egg donation, Georgia is thrilled to find herself pregnant—until she makes a startling discovery that changes her mind about how much she really wants the baby…Georgia’s best friend, Alice, has a happy teenage daughter, a faithful husband, and a perfectly organized life. But her world spins off its axis when she falls for a man who is everything she knows she doesn’t want…Leaving Haven is a provocative and touching novel that will appeal to readers of contemporary fiction and fans of Jodi Picoult, Luanne Rice, and Kristin Hannah.

The Girl in Seat 24B


Jennifer Peel - 2014
    Her journalist husband and her two adorable children were everything to her. But soon she would find out that her dream life didn't fall in line with her husband's expectations. Left alone to sort out the pieces of her crumbling life, Carly finds strength in her children and her growing relationship with her in-laws. Most importantly, she finds her greatest strength as she builds a friendship with herself. This is a beautiful story of one woman's strength and determination as she finds the will to move forward and be happy while the life she had grown to love crumbles around her. It is a story of a man who has lost his way and may lose it all if he can't find his way back. The Girl in Seat 24B is a story of love and forgiveness.

Ditch Flowers


Amanda Linsmeier - 2015
    Just holding one sets Julia’s heart thumping. She’s wanted a child for so long. When she finally gets pregnant, she’s bursting to tell the world….until a checkup from the doctor confirms a miscarriage.Julia’s world feels like it’s dissolving. This second tragedy following her father-in-law’s death, shakes her and her husband Greg. To support his mother, they uproot their lives and move to Greg’s childhood home. Under the bright Midwestern sky, Julia can feel a new world and new hope beginning.But trouble comes in threes, and soon a boy shows up at Julia’s new daycare whose blue eyes and freckled face look eerily like Greg’s. Despite her love for her husband, Julia finds her thoughts haunted by the boy’s face, and she can’t shake the feeling that her husband has a secret.

An Unsuitable Marriage


Colette Dartford - 2017
    But all that changed when Geoffrey's business went under. Now penniless and homeless, Geoffrey is living with his recently widowed mother, whilst Olivia has been forced to work as a housemistress at her son's elite boarding school.With their marriage under intolerable strain, Geoffrey makes a mistake - one that has devastating consequences for the guilty and innocent alike . . . 'A moving and engaging debut novel . . . shortens the dark nights' Santa Montefiore, on Learning to Speak American 'A heartrending story, well-told, about coping with unimaginable loss. Dartford evokes strong, sympathetic characters while writing fluently and from the heart. I raced through it.' Hilary Boyd, on Learning to Speak American

The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue


Barbara Samuel - 2004
     Trudy Marino never expected her life to turn out perfectly. But at forty-six, she was content with what she did have: her caring husband Rick . . . twenty-plus happy years raising three accomplished kids . . . and a lovely house in the artistic, vibrantly diverse town of Pueblo, New Mexico. But a heartbreaking discovery and a suddenly shattered marriage now has Trudy looking back on the choices she didn’t make—and where she might go from here. Struggling to pick up the pieces, Trudy finds support from a quirky, eclectic group of friends and neighbors—her goddesses of Kitchen Avenue—all of whom are trying in their own unique ways to navigate life’s little surprises. There’s Jade, a fiery social worker who’s finding unexpected strength to deal with her “player” ex-husband, thanks to a most unorthodox passion; Jade’s grandmother, Roberta, who has just lost her husband of sixty-two years—and through memory and piercing grief wonders what to do with the rest of her life; Shannelle, Trudy’s young neighbor and an aspiring writer, determined to realize her talent despite formidable obstacles . . . including the husband who’s afraid her success will be his loss; and Angel, a young, quietly-knowing photographer who makes Trudy uncover a sensuality she never knew—even as he tries to get over the one love he can never really forget. As Trudy faces her future, she discovers that figuring out what to let go and what to keep is just as difficult as moving on. As she weighs what she and Rick still share against new possibilities, she’ll surprise everyone— including herself—as she tries to reconcile the best of both.

Once More With Feeling


Megan Crane - 2012
    If only she could figure out how she got into this position in the first place, Sarah is sure she could fix it. Somehow. But when Sarah digs into her past, she finds she has to face all the ghosts she left behind—and the reason she left them there. One very tall, very sexy reason named Alec Frasier, who might hold the key to the kind of future Sarah used to dream about. Yet when Tim wakes up and can’t remember what he did, Sarah has the chance to slip back into her old life as if she never left it. Trouble is, she’s no longer sure it fits…

Contingency


Paula Wiseman - 2010
    The email teases, "My whole evening is free again." After an angry confrontation with Chuck, she is left with the broken remains of an eighteen year marriage. Where is God? Bobbi agrees forgiving Chuck is the right thing, the God-honoring thing to do, but it leaves her empty and isolated. Teaching her second-graders is a burden. Taking care of her boys saps all her energy. It seems God Himself has walked away, leaving her to struggle alone. Is God faithful? Bobbi can't deny the transformation in Chuck, but genuine forgiveness requires trust, and trust is a risk she's not willing to take. Can she let go of her deepest, most primal fears and save her marriage?

Mistakes: A Novel


Amanda Wilhelm - 2014
    When she finds out her husband was cheating on her, she doesn't tell anyone, not even her best friend Alex. Alex's marriage isn't perfect either but she's never confided in anyone about it and she's not about to start now. Together they go about their everyday lives raising their children. Separately, Lauri attempts to fix her marriage and Alex struggles to decide what to do about hers. Neither realizes their choices are intertwined. Until it's too late.

A Corner of Her Heart


Claire Yezbak Fadden - 2016
    Her joy is short-lived, however, when a casual comment leads to the discovery of her husband’s infidelity. The news sends her reeling, grasping for understanding and skeptical of everything she once thought she knew. While she struggles with the deceit and questions her faith, her youngest child receives a devastating diagnosis, plunging her into deeper despair.Unsure of how to move forward, Monica must reevaluate her options and determine what truly matters most. But will her decision ultimately destroy her family or will it make them whole again?

The Arrangement


Sarah Dunn - 2017
    They've got a two hundred year-old house, an autistic son obsessed with the Titanic, and 17 chickens, at last count. It's the kind of paradise where stay-at-home moms team up to cook the school's "hot lunch," dads grill grass-fed burgers, and, as Lucy observes, "chopping kale has become a certain kind of American housewife's version of chopping wood."When friends at a wine-soaked dinner party reveal they've made their marriage open, sensible Lucy balks. There's a part of her, though – the part that worries she's become too comfortable being invisible-that's intrigued. Why not try a short marital experiment? Six months, clear ground rules, zero questions asked. When an affair with a man in the city begins to seem more enticing than the happily-ever-after she's known for the past nine years, Lucy must decide what truly makes her happy – "real life," or the "experiment?"

You, Me and Other People


Fionnuala Kearney - 2015
    . .But what happens when you open the door and they won’t stop tumbling out?For Adam and Beth the first secret wasn’t the last, it was just the beginning. You think you can imagine the worst thing that could happen to your family, but there are some secrets that change everything. And then the question is, how can you piece together a future when your past is being rewritten?For fans of Liane Moriarty, Jojo Moyes and David Nicholls.

All We Never Knew


Elena Aitken - 2020
    On the cusp of her fortieth birthday and with her only child almost grown, it's time to start putting herself and her marriage first. But when the butterflies in her tummy turn out to be morning sickness, Maren’s world is flipped upside down with an unplanned, high risk pregnancy—one she's ashamed to admit is unwanted.Overnight, everything changes and the ripple effect of the baby she's so unsure of is felt in every corner of her life. Her perfect life slowly disappears. Her teenage daughter looks for attention in the wrong places. Her best friend inexplicably blows up and stops speaking to her. And worse, her once doting husband pulls away when she needs him the most.Just when she's sure things couldn't possibly be worse, a shocking discovery rocks Maren's world. Faced with a devastating deception, a truth she can no longer ignore, and an impossible choice, can Maren stop her life from completely unraveling? Or is All We Never Knew too much for love to overcome?

Tear Stained Beaches


Courtney Giardina - 2013
    Chase used to be a fun-loving, light hearted husband who has lately become an overworked attorney obsessed with climbing the corporate ladder. It isn’t long before Haylie starts waking up next to a man she barely knows. His secretive phone calls and late nights at the office leave her feeling alone and afraid of what he might be hiding. Ignoring his continuous pleas to just leave well enough alone, she continues to dig for answers and discovers a heartbreaking truth.Struggling with what she has just learned, Haylie sets off to a quaint little North Carolina beach town to decide if her marriage can survive. It isn’t long after she arrives that her world is once again turned upside down as Chase’s secret stares her right in the face.